Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

1

Item 05 – GRI Topic Standard Project2for Biodiversity – Project proposal

3For GSSB discussion and approval
Date

30 June 2021

Meeting

1 July 2021

Project

GRI Topic Standard Project for Biodiversity – Project Proposal

Description

This document sets out the draft project proposal to review the GRI 304:
Biodiversity 2016. For GSSB discussion and approval to send to the GRI Board
and Stakeholder Council for feedback.
After feedback from the GRI Board and Stakeholder Council has been received
and incorporated, the Standards Division will present the proposal to the GSSB forfinal approval, in accordance with the Due Process Protocol.
Please note: this project proposal will be discussed during the GSSB meeting on
1 July 2021. Pending potential amendments based on the GSSB discussions, theproject proposal will be submitted for approval through a documented electronic
process as per the GSSB Terms of Reference after the GSSB meeting on 1 July2021.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers at meetings of the GlobalSustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an official position of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in theGRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. The GSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2021

4Contents
Project background ................................................................................................................................. 3
Project objectives .................................................................................................................................... 3
Division of responsibilities ....................................................................................................................... 4
Timeline ................................................................................................................................................... 4

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Project backgroundAs part of the GSSB Work Program 2020-2022, the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB)
has identified the review of GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 as a priority project for commencement in2021. Since the GRI disclosures on biodiversity were last revised in 2006, the issue of biodiversity
has received significant attention in the global sustainable development agenda.
Biodiversity features as a key theme in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Bothgovernments and private sector organizations are being called upon to realize SDG 14 and SDG 15.
SDG14 is devoted to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources” 1. While
SDG 15 is devoted to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss”2.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES)
issued the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services in 2019 3, highlightingthat biodiversity is declining in every region and issues an urgent call to halt and reverse theunsustainable use of nature.
Over the past years, the United Nations have been working on the Convention on Biological Diversity,
a new global framework to reverse nature loss in the next decade. At the time of issuance of thisproject proposal, parties to the convention are in ongoing negotiations of the post-2020 global
biodiversity framework with the aim to agree on the new convention at the upcoming meeting in
Kunming China in October 20204. The Global Biodiversity Outlook 55 and the zero draft6 issued by theConvention on Biological Diversity form the basis of the ongoing deliberations.

Project objectives
The project aims to review the GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 to represent internationally agreed bestpractice and align with recent developments and the relevant authoritative intergovernmental
instruments in the field of biodiversity.
The revised Topic Standard enables an organization to publicly disclose its most significant impacts
on biodiversity and how the organization manages these impacts. This disclosure enhancestransparency on the organization’s impacts and increases organizational accountability. The revised
Topic Standards will contain disclosures that allow an organization to report information about its
impacts consistently and credibly. In doing so, the global comparability and quality of reported
information on these impacts supports information users in making informed assessments anddecisions about the organization’s impacts and contribution to sustainable development.

1 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/
2 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/biodiversity/
3 IPBES, Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental

Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3831673
4 https://www.cbd.int/article/new-dates-cop15-october-2021
5 https://www.cbd.int/gbo56 https://www.cbd.int/article/zero-draft-update-august-2020

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The review includes but is not limited to the review of the current disclosures. The revised TopicStandard can but does not necessarily have to build on the existing contents of the GRI 304:
Biodiversity 2016.

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Division of responsibilities

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A Technical Committee will be formed to provide technical advice for the development of the revised
Topic Standard.
The Standards Division will draft the Topic Standard, and the GSSB will have oversight and final
approval over the Topic Standard before its release.
The project will be conducted in accordance with the GSSB Due Process Protocol.

52Timeline535455This project is envisioned to commence in September 2021. Table 1, on the following page, outlines
the anticipated project duration. The exact starting date and the predicted dates of other key
milestones will be confirmed during the GSSB meeting on 23 September 2021.

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Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org
Table 1: Estimated duration of Topic Standards Project for Biodiversity
Phase

56~Duration(months)

Project commencement

1Recruitment of Technical Committee

2GSSB approval of Technical Committee-Content development by Technical Committee

4GSSB approval of exposure draft

1

Public comment period

3

Analysis of public comments and revision of draft

3

GSSB approval of final standard

1

Total (months)

13Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month12345678910111213uuu